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While the overall experience is pleasant, some of the odd quirks with the camera and game mechanics, as well as the overall lackluster production make this a less than ideal Shrek game and especially a less than ideal 360 game. Recommended for children and achievement whores only!

While the little kids won’t especially notice or even care about the some of the graphical quirks and choppy animation – Puss in Boots is the main culprit – any older gamers will likely be distracted but if you’re just playing the “hard” parts of the game, it’s not so bad. Plus, you’ll look like a video game guru to your kids, which is not something you can demonstrate by chainsawing opponents in Gears of War.

If you own an Xbox 360 I highly encourage you to download the Shrek the Third demo on Xbox Live and give that a go before you make the purchase. That being said the game has a lot of strengths that help take away from the obvious weaknesses. Based on my time with the game I would venture to say that younger audiences and fans of the Shrek movies will enjoy playing as the green Ogre and all his friends more so then your average mature gamer.

Those things aside Shrek the Third is a decent platformer for the younger set. It’s mostly a button masher. You perform the same combo moves over and over again, with very little skill needed to get through the game, which is fine for children. They don’t always comprehend the intricacies of a move which can require four different buttons and pressing the analog stick in three different directions. So, if you’ve got a Shrek fan in your house they might enjoy this, but be ready when they come to you because they can’t pass a certain level in the game, because it might happen more often than you think.

Overall, if you are a big fan of the Shrek universe or have a kid that is you might enjoy this game for what it is and for being able to control your favorite characters. However that fun might not last very long depending on whether you run into any of the aforementioned bugs throughout the game. If you plow through the game not doing any of the challenges or anything you can finish this game in approximately 5 hours, if not sooner. For this reason this game should really be nothing more than a rental at your local video store. If you really like the game I would recommend waiting a few months until the price drops on the game as it is no where near worth the $50 price tag that they are asking for it.

The game captures the feel of the franchise, but seriously lacks any sort of depth or attention to detail, as the game is ridden with buggy areas, odd animation glitches, and an entirely linear design. Any way you slice it, Shrek cuts corners, and though it’s still fun to rip through levels, beating up on enemies with simple combos and gag-based finishing attacks, players who want to dive in will find the waters shallow. The entire game can be played with three buttons (or a button and Wii-mote/nunchuk waggle on Wii), and never goes beyond an average quarter-jerking arcade experience. Put a few hours into the game and you’ll see all it has to offer. If you’re in dire need of some Shrek action this summer, give this one a rent. All others should save their cash for a more committed and in depth gaming experience; Shrek is thin even for a licensed title.

Shrek the Third isn't fundamentally broken or inescapably unplayable, but its sheer middle-of-the-road laziness in every contributing aspect makes it all-but impossible to recommend to anyone accept blinkered Shrek / Dreamworks fanatics and those with a bizarre penchant for shoehorned Hollywood dross.

What's perhaps most depressing about Shrek the Third is that the actual quality of the game will have little, if any, bearing on its success. The game seems to operate under the notion that its audience simply isn't concerned with getting an experience that's interesting or inventive, and sadly, it's probably right.

In the end, it’s hard to recommend Shrek the Third to anyone but devoted fans of the film or younger children. It is hard to justify spending $60 on a game that simply wasn’t put together very well or with a lot of care. Skip this one, buy the kids some other official Shrek merchandise.

Maybe it’ll hold a smaller child’s attention but that doesn't mean it's a good game. Barney the dinosaur can also enteratain a child, and that's awful. Shrek the Third quickly becomes a chore for even the mildly experienced gamer. With games like these I always judge them by their value independent of the license. In other words, if you took Shrek out, would you still buy it? And the answer here is a resounding “no.” Maybe a weekend rental for the kid(s) if they whined, but other than that, I don’t see anyone but the most ardent Shrek fans finding this game worth $60.

If Shrek the Third is a title aimed at the younger crowd, then the game is way too difficult for them. If Shrek the Third is meant for the older crown, then the game isn’t nearly compelling enough. If Shrek the Third is meant for all ages, then the young and old will be equally disappointment: bored and aggravated from fighting the controls, the camera, and the lackluster levels design in a game that just isn’t worth it.

It feels rushed, it looks like it belongs on the Dreamcast, and at some points death is unavoidable. It's a shame some basic fighting mechanics are stuck inside the drab levels and pathetic camera. SHReK the ThiRD is broken.